How this will help

Elepahnt ( Elephant) being held hostage for ransom by Indonesian farmers.

VIDEO - Published on 30th Jun 2013

The terrible fate of Raja the baby elephant, chained and held hostage by an angry mob: An image that will haunt you and a story that will enrage you.

In this shocking expose, the Duchess of Cornwall's brother reveals how baby elephant Raja was shockingly mistreated as he was kept captive in Sumatra. Following the deforestation of the land to produce palm oil, elephants have been forced to live with humans, destroying farms, flattening houses and sometimes killing people.

Villagers took Raja, and demanded compensation after his family ruined crops in the area.

This baby elephant, nicknamed Raja, was captured by Indonesian villagers and held to ransom after he destroyed some of their crops.

They demanded the Sumatran government pay for the damage and said if it wouldn't, Raja would be taught tricks to earn the money himself.

An elephant conservation charity launched a campaign to rescue the starving elephant, but last week he was found dead chained to his tree.

"Baby Raja's death is a symbol of a much wider problem caused by deforestation, vested commercial interests and government inaction.

"As the forests in Sumatra are cut down, elephants are made homeless. Stressed and starving herds flee from the chainsaws in search of safety and food, and as the elephants walk through farmland they destroy crops and livelihoods." an advocate stated that the Sumatran elephants are now critically engaged. "The villagers that took Raja captive were desperate.

"By keeping Raja they hoped the Sumatran government would listen and protect them from the tragic fallout of extensive habitat loss.

But their ill-conceived action and inexperience ultimately cost Raja his life," she said. "They are in imminent danger of extinction.

Eighty-five percent of their habitat is located outside of protected areas and is constantly vulnerable." So far the government has not moved to slow deforestation and the harvesting of palm oil.

PLEASE NOTE:We have to boycott products containing palm oil and write to the manufacturers to let them know that we do not want palm oil in our food.

As long as there is a demand, there will be people and Governments ready to satisfy that demand for profit.

Palm oil is found in absolutely everything from food and household products, to make-up and other cosmetics. Today palm oil is also being widely considered as being an alternative to the natural fossil fuels that are rapidly running out, primarily being used as a form of biofuel in the transport industry.It is thought that one in ten products found on our supermarket shelves today contain palm oil, but only a small percentage of the palm oil that is used to make these products, actually comes from a sustainable source.